Mosa Moshabela’s partnership with his grandmother took him from rural Limpopo all the way to the top at UCT

Incoming vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town Professor Mosa Moshabela, during a UCT media briefing. 24 May 2024. (Photo: Suné Payne)

Tinyiko Maluleke – 11 June 2024

It is almost midnight in the little-known, poverty-stricken village of Mapatjakeng in Zebediela, Limpopo. As if propelled by a hurricane, 12-year-old Matlagolo Mosa “Moloto” Moshabela darts out of the hut of his maternal grandmother – Elizabeth Ramadimetja Madisha, neé Mphahlele.

He plunges headlong into the thick blanket of darkness that characterised the Mapatjakeng nights back then. Quite literally, he hits the ground running…

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